The United States Department of Agriculture has issued new rules to improve the eating behaviors of the American youth in schools. Regulations inspired by Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" healthy eating campaign already restrict what schools are able to offer in cafeterias, but in July restrictions will expand to include vending machines. In July 2014, vending machines will only be allowed to sell "fruit, dairy products, whole-grain foods, lean-protein products or vegetable items that are less than 200 calories for 'snacks' and 350 calories for 'entrees'."

This new film, directed and produced by a team of experts and professionals with wide-ranging backgrounds including Stephanie Soechtig and Katie Couric, explores how the food industry has and continues to contribute to the epidemic of obesity, chronic disease, and decline of health among Americans and global populations.

Films like this one move public understanding of the link between the chronic disease crisis and our food supply in the right direction. A step forward, no matter its magnitude, is still forward.

Previous studies on caloric restriction in animal models like mice and nematodes found that the reduction in consumption lead to an increase in longevity. Thus far, the impacts of such dietary restrictions in primate species have been mixed, with at least one major study finding no such association between life span and calorie restriction and another concluding that the restriction did in fact add years.

While longevity is still being debated, these studies are finding that the animals “health span”, or the number of years they live before showing signs of age-related disease, is extended among primates living on calorie restricted diets. To learn more about the concept of a “health span”, as well as specific findings related to health outcomes such as cancer and heart disease among the study cohorts, please visit: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/08/caloric-restriction-in-monkeys.html.